For Immediate Release:
Michael Pollan
‘Taking the Plant's Point of View’
Friday, August 8, 2008
6:30PM: Exclusive HSNY member’s reception
7:00PM: Doors open to the public
7:30PM: Lecture begins
Rain or shine / $5 suggested donation
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101
Visit http://www.ps1.org/ for directions
For the past twenty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where civilization and the natural world intersect. He is one of today’s most influential, revolutionary investigators of what we eat and how plants impact our daily lives and culture. A long-standing supporter of The Horticultural Society of New York, the award-winning author will lecture on-site at P.F.1 (Public Farm One), a quarter-acre working farm currently installed in the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center courtyard. P.F.1 is the vibrant creation of WORK Architecture Company, winners of this year’s MoMA/P.S.1 Young Architects Program competition. With this productive urban farm as a backdrop, Pollan will discuss the power of taking the plant's point of view, what that does for us, and why it's important to solving our environmental problems.
The event is also presented in conjunction with The Horticultural Society of New York’s major exhibition of contemporary art at The UBS Art Gallery, Implant, which riffs on ideas put forth by Pollan. Implant will feature plant-based art in a wide variety of media and will include works by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Pipilotti Rist, Peter Coffin and Francesca Woodman among over 40 others. Influenced specifically by Pollan’s book, The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World (2001) Curator Jodie Vicenta Jacobson’s exhibition concept exposes the plant’s power to infiltrate the artist’s psyche, cleverly immortalizing itself as a work of art.
Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals was named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the New York Times and the Washington Post. It also won the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, the James Beard Award for best food writing, and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author A Place of My Own (1997) and Second Nature (1991). A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine among other prestigious publications, Pollan is the Knight Professor of Journalism at the Graduate School of Journalism at UC-Berkeley and Director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism. His most recent book is titled In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (2008).
Coinciding with P.S.1’s courtyard presentation of P.F.1, The Horticultural Society of New York Gallery will feature architectural models, live-plant sculptures, preparatory drawings, photo-documentation and ephemera from the project. Through September 5, 2008.
Founded in 1900, The Horticultural Society of New York (HSNY) is at the forefront of New York City’s environmental well being. Our innovative multi-use headquarters provide resources for urban gardeners, plant enthusiasts, visual artists and green technology professionals. We promote the art and science of horticulture and its vital role in contemporary life, to diverse communities through out New York. Our outreach programs bring environmental literacy to public school children; gardens and urban agriculture to seniors and residents with special needs and vocational training to men, women and adolescents incarcerated on Rikers Island.
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center is one of the largest and oldest organizations in the United States solely devoted to contemporary art. Established in 1976 by Alanna Heiss, P.S.1 originated from The Institute for Art and Urban Resources, a not-for-profit organization with a mission of turning abandoned, underutilized buildings in New York City into artist studios and exhibition spaces. P.S.1 became an affiliate of The Museum of Modern Art in 2000. In 2004, P.S.1 launched the world's first Internet art radio station, Art Radio WPS1.org, and Michael Pollan’s talk will be made available there as free streaming audio on-demand.
JOIN HSNY TODAY FOR AN EXCLUSIVE CHANCE TO MEET MICHAEL POLLAN! For a limited time only, you can join HSNY for a special rate of just $25! You’ll gain access to our exclusive reception with Michael Pollan, and you’ll enjoy all the year-long benefits of HSNY Membership. To take advantage of this offer, visit the membership page or call 212-757-0915 x121 and join at the $25 student level (no student ID required for a limited time). But hurry, this special rate ends August 6th!
This program is made possible in part by a grant from Con Edison.
P.S.1 gratefully acknowledges the assistance of The Horticultural Society of New York in providing expertise and maintenance for Public Farm 1.
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